title: Trends underlying employer-sponsored health insurance growth for Americans younger than age sixty-five.
abstract: Little is known about the trends in health care spending for the 156 million Americans who are younger than age sixty-five and enrolled in employer-sponsored health insurance. Using a new source of health insurance claims data, we estimated per capita spending, utilization, and prices for this population between 2007 and 2011. During this period per capita spending on employer-sponsored insurance grew at historically slow rates, but still faster than per capita national health expenditures. Total per capita spending for employer-sponsored insurance grew at an average annual rate of 4.9 percent, with prescription spending growing at 3.3 percent and medical spending growing at 5.3 percent. Out-of-pocket medical spending increased at an average annual rate of 8.0 percent, whereas out-of-pocket prescription drug spending growth was flat. Growth in the use of medical services and prescription drugs slowed. Medical price growth accelerated, and prescription price growth decelerated. As a result, changes in utilization contributed less than changes in price did to overall spending growth for those with employer-sponsored insurance.
authors.forename: Carolina-Nicole
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Herrera
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gaynor
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Newman
authors.forename: Robert J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Town
authors.forename: Stephen T
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Parente
mesh_terms: D005382:Financing, Personal / Q000639:trends*; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends*; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D014481:United States
keywords: Cost Of Health Care; Employer-Based Insurance; Health Economics; Health Spending